


The Most Important Thing

by Kroolea



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Custody Battle, Family, Fluff and Angst, also instead of speaking mando'a they speak spanish, cody is smart, the clones are fetts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:55:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23693491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kroolea/pseuds/Kroolea
Summary: Cody didn't cry when he heard the news. He couldn't, Tup was crying, Fives and Echo were sniffling and Jesse left the room in a stony silence, Rex followed him.No, Cody crying would only make things worst.---After the unexpected death of his father, Cody Fett is trying to get custody of his six younger brothers, he drops everything to ensure his brothers aren't separated.Raising kids is a lot harder than he expected.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 80





	The Most Important Thing

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't going to post this but after it sat festering in my google docs for about two months I decided to post it.

Cody didn't cry when he heard the news. He couldn't, Tup was crying, Fives and Echo were sniffling and Jesse left the room in a stony silence, Rex followed him.

No, Cody crying would only make things worst.

Instead he nodded toward the social worker who promised to be back by tonight and gathered the youngest Fett kids.

"Estara bien." He mumbled to Tup as he kissed the young boy's cheek.

Tup looked at him, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Promesa?"

"Promesa." Cody replied seriously. Tup buried his face in Cody's shirt and cried.

The social worker, Plo Koon, Cody reminded himself came back that night and pulled Cody aside.

"Do you have any available family or family friends?" Plo asked, Cody slowly shook his head. There were a few friends that would probably be willing to help but Cody didn't trust them.

"I can care for them. I'm old enough." Cody said quickly, Plo looked him over.

"It will be a process. And you're pretty young, a judge may decide to wait a little while, there are six younger ones, right?" He questioned, his calm voice grounded Cody from screaming until his lungs quit. Cody nodded belatedly to his answer.

"I've pretty much raised them anyways. I can do it." Cody was suddenly emotional at the thought of losing his father plus brothers. "Please, they're my hermanos. I can't lose them."

Plo stroked his chin silently. "I'll see what I can do. Someone will check on you in the morning until someone can stay with you.."

Cody nodded, unable to answer due to his throat choking up.

Plo left after that and Cody sat down, running a hand through his hair. Knowing he wouldn't sleep tonight he pulled out his laptop and began looking up the easiest ways to get custody of siblings.

"Codes?" A small voice piped up from the hall. Cody looked up to see tousled hair and big, dark eyes peering from the closest door.

"Yeah, Tup?" He asked, the boy slowly inched his way out of the room.

"Can I stay out here with you? I can't sleep."

How could Cody resist that face and those big brown puppy eyes. He couldn't so he simply nodded and moved slightly so Tub could get comfortable.

"How to get cus- custo- cus-two-dy?" Tup squinted at the screen as he tried to sound out the word.

"Custody." He corrected. Tup wrinkled his nose.

"What does that mean? Cody, what does that mean?" Cody shrugged, focusing on reading. Tup frowned. "Cody? Cody? Coooody?"

"Can you please be quiet?" Cody snapped. Tup looked unphased at his older brother's annoyance.

"What does cuso- that word- mean?" Tup asked, pointing at it. Cody sighed loudly.

"It means, uh, it means having control of. Or something I don't know. Ve a dormir."

"I already said I'm not tired." Tup protested. Cody ran a hand over his face.

"Can you try?"

"I already did!" Tup stuck out his lip and pouted.

Cody sighed. It would be a long night.

\--

Cody was awoken to a loud knock on the door. Sometime late last night Tup had fallen asleep against Cody, successfully pinning him to the couch. Cody’s neck and back burned from sleeping sitting upright.

The knocking continued and Cody's eyes widened. "Mierda!" He swore, running to the door. He opened it and sighed when it was only Plo. Tup had woken up at Cody's swearing and followed Cody and Plo into the kitchen.

"When you said morning, I didn't expect it to be this early." He grumbled, letting the man in.

"It's ten. Is everyone sleeping still? I brought some breakfast." Plo set the McDonalds bags on the table. Cody sighed in relief. Tup cheered and rummaged through the bags loudly.

"Thank you. And I think most of them are still asleep, I can wake them up."

"No, let them sleep. I brought you some forms to fill out, I know it's overwhelming but fill out as much as you can." Cody looked warily at the large stack of papers.

"All of it?" He asked, Plo laughed softly.

"Unfortunately." He patted the boy on the shoulder. Cody glanced at the large stack of papers. I can't do this. I can't do this. I can't do this.

"Is that McDonalds?" Fives' voice broke Cody out of thought. He looked at the nine-year-old and nodded.

"Mr. Plo was nice enough to bring it for us. What do you say?" Cody said as Fives reached his hand into the back and pulled out a sandwich.

"Thank you!" Fives exclaimed as he took a bite of it. Plo smiled.

"You're welcome. Now let me guess. You're... Fives?" Plo guessed. Fives beamed.

"Yessir! How'd you know?" Fives froze mid bite, he stared at Plo as if he was a magician. Most people couldn't tell the twins apart.

"Well, you have five fingers." Cody stifled a laugh.

"But I have five fingers too!" Echo, who had been standing in the hallway listening to them, protested. He ran into the room, pushing his fingers in Plo's face. Cody stopped him before he accidently poked out the social worker's eye.

"Eat." Cody sat Echo down at the table and quickly shoved a sandwich in his hands.

"Okay." Echo ate, chewing loudly.

"You're aunt is preparing funeral arrangements so you don't have to worry about it." Plo said, looking at Cody. Cody sighed in relief.

"Do I have to go?" Wolffe's voice startled Cody. Rex was right behind him.

"Yes." Cody answered firmly.

Rex rolled his eyes and sat between Echo and Fives. "Do I?"

Cody shot Rex a glare. Rex smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"You all are going. No questions."

"But-" Fives started. Cody covered his mouth, ignoring the fact that the boy bit him.

"Nope. No questions. I'll make sure Aunt Arla knows to make cake."

The boys nodded and continued eating.

"Where's Jesse?"

"He didn't sleep last night." Fives said. "All night long he was throwing a ball at his wall. It kept me up." Echo nodded in agreement.

"Me too. It kept me up."

"Copycat." Fives mumbled, Cody gave Plo a sympathetic look, grabbed a sandwich, and headed toward Jesse's room before he had to stop a fight between the twins.

He knocked on the door and when he heard a faint affirmation he opened the door.

"Brought you breakfast. How are you?" Cody sat down on the bed, eating his own breakfast. Jesse stared at the sandwich blankly.

"I'm fine." Jesse muttered, he opened the sandwich and took a bite of it, swallowing it way too fast.

"That's a lie. Fives said you were throwing stuff last night."

"It wasn't that loud." Jesse argued. Cody rolled his eyes.

"Their bunk bed is on the other side of the wall." Cody chided, Jesse looked chastised.

"I'll apologize later."

"Do you need to talk? I'm here. I know you and Tup were probably closest to him." Cody frowned.

Jesse shrugged. "I'm not doing awful right now. Ask me after the funeral." Jesse sighed.

"Aunt Arla is arranging the funeral."

"Of course."

"She'd probably accept your help if I offered it. If you think it would help you." Cody offered, knowing that his brother would probably benefit from helping set up whatever Arla needed.

"Thank you." Jesse said. Cody got up and ruffled his hair.

"No problem. Now get out here before you attract every rat to your room." Cody teased. Jesse smiled and followed him.

"I don't have rats." He complained.

"Not yet. Just you wait."

\--

Arla decided to move in with them for a few weeks while Cody worked out paperwork. She wasn't very helpful because she had to work but it was nice having her around so they wouldn't be temporarily separated. One late night while Cody waded through papers and forms she watched him.

"You look exactly like your dad." Cody smiled and shook his head.

"I don't feel like it." He admitted softly, she frowned.

"Well, then you didn't know your dad. He had his moments but I think, deep down, he cared for you." She shrugged. The two sat in silence for a long time before she spoke.

"Zam and Boba have to come to the funeral."

"What?!" Cody hissed. "They haven't talked to him in months." He tried to keep his voice low so he didn't wake up the others.

Arla worried her lip. "Aurra has requested to come as well."

Cody saw red. "Absolutely not. She is not going anywhere near Wolffe." Cody remembered when Wolffe came home. Wolffe was actually only their half brother but Aurra had had an awful mother. When Jesse was a baby, Jango had brought home a half-blind toddler. Cody's mom had been pissed about it but she raised Wolffe like he was her own anyways.

"She may have changed..." Arla offered, it was a weak suggestion and they both knew it.

Cody glared at her. "She let her toddler's eye get scratched and infected because she was so stoned. Need I remind you he now blind in that eye." He argued. Arla lifted her hands in surrender.

"I didn't say yes to her, I know she's a piece of shit. I was going to ask Wolffe." Arla explained, Cody shook his head.

"No, Wolffe will say he doesn't care."

"Fine. Aurra can't come. Zam and Boba are coming though. Despite how little they contacted him, Boba did love Jango."

Cody rolled his eyes but didn't argue, knowing he wouldn't win that fight.

\--

Cody didn't remember his mom's funeral being so miserable. Of course he was much younger and actually allowed himself to cry.

He didn't have to be in charge either.

One of Jango's friends was talking about how great Jango was. Tup was not paying attention, Fives and Echo were playing with toy cars. Jesse sat in silence, glaring at the wall. Wolffe had since abandoned them to hide in the bathroom. Rex sat between the twins but did little to actually watch them.

Cody had stopped listening the second people started talking so he just watched his brothers. He wished Tup would get upset or something so Cody had to take him out of the room but instead the first grader was content to play with a stuffed dragon some family member had given him.

A long hour later the funeral was done. Cody took the boys home and tried to get them to put the suits away properly. It was no use and by the end of the night he was still picking up jackets of all sizes.

\--

"Codyyyyy! Echo has my bear."

"Do not!"

Cody looked up from filling out paperwork to squint at the two fourth-graders. "Fives, let him use the stupid stuffed animal." He ground out. He needed coffee. Lots of coffee.

"It's mine!" Fives screeched. Cody closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead in an attempt to get rid of the growing headache. There was a thump and then a sharp cry from Echo.

"You deserved that-"

"Cállate!" Cody yelled, nearly screaming himself. The twins froze and stared at him. Cody held out his hand for the toy, Echo wiped his nose pitifully and handed Cody the bear.

"It has my name on it." He sniffled, pointing at the nametag. Cody looked at Fives disapprovingly.

"He's right." Cody held up the bear so Fives could see.

"He wouldn't show me!" Fives protested. Cody's yell had apparently drawn the attention of other siblings, Rex and Tup watched the exchange from the kitchen.

"Fives, you can't hit Echo." Cody tried to reason, the nine-year-old suddenly burst into angry tears.

"I hate you! You're the worst!" Cody rolled his eyes as Fives stormed off, "You're not my dad! I want dad not you!"

That stung much more than Cody was willing to admit. Cody didn't try to be like Jango but hearing it from his brother's mouth still hurt.

After a few moments, Cody realized Echo was still crying. He scooped up the boy and sat back down.

"Are you okay?" He asked, trying his best to keep his voice gentle in spite of the anger welling up in him.

"Yeah." Echo wiped his nose on the back of his sleeve. Cody wiped away a few of his tears.

"Here's your bear. What's his name?" Cody asked curiously. Echo hesitated.

"It's dumb." He mumbled. Cody frowned.

"It's not dumb. Nothing you do is dumb." Cody said seriously.

"You're gonna make fun of me." Echo whined. Cody shook his head and solemnly held out his pinky.

"I pinky swear I won't make fun of it. If I make fun of it, I'll buy you cookies." He promised. Echo smiled slightly.

"It's Clara." He mumbled. Cody thought for a moment.

"It's a nice name. Why'd you pick it?" He asked, Echo shrugged.

"C'mon you had to have some inspiration? Is it a girl you like?"

Echo giggled and dried his eyes. "Clara's the dancer from "The Nutcracker".

Ah, that explained it. In all honestly Cody forgot Echo did ballet last year at school. Cody was surprised at first but Jango said that ballet benefited Echo just as much as any other sport would.

"Are you going to do ballet this year?" Cody asked, Echo shook his head.

"Why not? I loved your cute outfits. Like last year when you were a bird in that one dance?"

"I'm too old to do ballet." Echo said solemnly.

"There's no such thing as too old for ballet. You're smart, you know that. Why don't you want to do it?"

"Some people at school made fun of me." Echo admitted. A snarl from Rex in the kitchen proved that he was eavesdropping on their conversation. Cody didn't blame him.

"Who said that?! Did you tell a teacher?" Cody

"N-no... I didn't want them to get in trouble." Echo looked down at the bear nervously.

"Why not? That's called bullying and it's a bad thing. You should have..." Cody trailed off and watched Echo closely. "It was Fives, wasn't it?"

At Echo's slight nod, Cody shook his head.

"You should try again this year. If Fives makes fun of you again tell me or Rex." Echo thought about this.

"Okay." Echo crawled off Cody and sat back down where he was coloring before the drama had happened.

"I love you Cody." Echo said, Cody looked at him and grinned.

"I love you too, Echo."

\--

It had been a few days since the incident with Fives and Cody had started finishing paper and talking more often with Plo about court hearings and such. He was just finishing on the phone with Plo when he heard wailing and screaming from outside. He sighed when he heard Fives voice in the middle of it. Of course that troublemaker was up to no good.

That's when Echo ran inside, his eyes full of fear.

"Tup fell off swing and now Tup's bleeding and is crying." Cody threw down his papers and ran outside.

There sitting on the ground crying, no, wailing was Tup. Blood was running down his face and was getting everywhere. Cody picked him up and tried to soothe him.

_ Shit, shit, shit, shit. What do I do? What do I do? _

"Wolffe get out here!" Cody yelled as loudly as he could. He was panicking, Echo and Fives were panicking. Tup be as definitely panicking. Where was Rex?

Within a few seconds Wolffe came outside, Jesse not far behind. Both gasped and quickly ran to them.

"I don't know what to do, he needs stitches but-" Cody couldn't breathe.

"Noooooo!" Tup wailed. Cody squeezed his eyes shut. No he could not be having a panic attack right now.

"Wolffe, call Plo, and take the twins inside." Jesse said, pushed the twins to Wolffe who nodded and pulled out his phone. Jesse took the shrieking Tup from the panicking Cody and led them to the garage. He found a clean towel and held it over his wound. Jesse's voice sounded muffled in Cody's ears.

"Sit down, Cody." He said, Cody was trembling.

"I- I can't..." Cody ran a hand through his hair, messing it up.

"Cody, sit down. You're freaking Tup out." Jesse said firmly. "It's okay, Tup. Your not badly hurt. It's just bleeding a lot because it's on your head. Kix taught me that." Jesse soothed.

Cody belatedly remembered that Jesse's best friend had an obsession with medicine and wanted to be some fancy doctor or something.

Plo arrived and Rex got home a few minutes later.

"You're going to the doctor." Plo said upon seeing the cut.

"Can Jesse come?" Tup asked. Plo nodded and smiled at Jesse.

"We'll be back later tonight." Plo told them as he left. Rex sat on the garage steps beside Cody.

"What happened?" Rex asked. Cody shook his head.

"I don't know! Echo came inside freaking out, then I went outside and freaked out. I'm awful." Cody buried his head in his hands and tried to push away the burning in his eyes.

"It's okay, Codes. Jesse did good. So did Wolffe." Rex tried to calm his older brother.

"But I failed. How am I supposed to get custody when I couldn't think during an emergency." Cody rubbed a hand over his face. Rex rolled his eyes.

"To be fair you came outside to see your youngest brother covered in blood. And besides you already get queasy around blood." Rex teased.

"I know, but being in charge means you-"

"No. Dad didn't do a lot of things because he didn't like dealing with it. Remember how much he hated vomit?"

Cody cringed, he and Rex had to clean up many vomit incidents from their younger siblings because Jango refused to.

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts. Come one let's go inside and make sure those three haven't destroyed the house yet." Rex tugged Cody to his feet, hugging him quickly before the two went inside.

\--

"Cody! There's a letter for you!"

"It has a fancy stamp on it. Let me show him!"

"I'll show him!"

Before the twins could fight each other Rex had snatched the letter and was reading the front. He grinned and handed the letter to Cody, shooing the twins outside to play with Tup.

"Harvard Law?" Wolffe glanced at it, he sat down at the table. Even Jesse looked up from his phone at this.

"It was a... joke between me and dad..." He trailed off awkwardly. "He said he'd pay for my college if I got accepted into Harvard." Cody shrugged and opened it.

"So, did you get in? Is our brother secretly a genius?" Rex asked, crossing his arms as Cody scanned it.

"No, of course I didn't get in." Cody snorted, his face was taunt as he threw the letter away and continued to carefully measure out ingredients.

There was a rustling sound from behind him and then there was dead silence for five, blissful seconds. Uh-oh.

"You bastard!" Rex yelled, he held up the paper. "My brother got accepted into Harvard Law!" He yelled, Wolffe and Jesse broke into cheers.

Cody hated being the bearer of bad news.

"I'm not going." He admitted wearily.

Another few seconds of silence. Wolffe spoke up. "Why not? Codes you're a genius. You got into Harvard."

"I'm not going to college this year."

"You're not  _ WHAT _ ?!"

"Cody! You have to!"

"Is it because of us?" Jesse's gentle question rang louder than a gunshot.

Cody shifted nervously, he felt the stares of them, waiting for an answer.

"No... Not really. I just decided it would be more cost efficient if I didn't go this year. It had more to do with money."

Jesse let out a breath he had been holding in. "Oh good." Cody and Rex exchanged a look. Stopping what he was currently doing, Cody stood over Jesse and put his hands on the teenager's shoulders.

"Even if it were because we were too busy or I was already too stressed. It wouldn't have been your fault." Cody started. Jesse shrugged.

"You probably won't get into Harvard ever again." He said pessimistically. Cody inwardly winced, he was right.

"I'll be fine. It's cheaper to go somewhere closer. Plus, I'll be around you pendejos." Cody explained calmly. Jesse nodded and began looking back down at his phone.

Behind Cody's back, Rex silently folded up the paper and placed it in his pocket.

\--

Cody wrung his hands nervously, the suit he had found was itchy and made him fidget in his seat.

"It'll be okay." Rex said calmly. Cody flashed him a grateful smile and closed his eyes.

"What if they decide to put them in foster care?" Cody asked, Rex shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. You're going to work yourself up." Rex leaned back and shook his head.

Plo walked into the room and smiled at the two. "Are you ready?"

Cody nodded, Plo clasped his shoulder. "You're going to be fine." He said seriously, Cody faltered.

"I- Thank you." Cody whispered.

Plo nodded and led them into the courtroom.

It was fairly empty. Cody was thankful for that because he was pretty sure his hands were shaking.

"Estara bien." Rex mumbled. Cody sighed loudly. Koon looked at them.

"You'll be one of the first people to go." Plo warned. Cody frowned.

"Wonderful." He said sarcastically.

"You'll get it over with." Rex offered. Cody shot him a glare.

"Not helping." He grumbled. Rex's face broke into a smile.

"Sorry." Rex said, completely unapologetic.

Cody watched the room as the judge started. There was a woman who was caught speeding. An aunt getting custody of her niece.

"Cody Fett?" The judge read his paper, looking up at the room, Rex pushed him forward, Cody approached the podium like everyone else.

"You want custody of your brothers, correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Tell me, Cody, how many of you are there?" The judge asked, not unkindly.

Cody took a deep breath. He knew this. He had done this type of stuff before in classes and clubs. Just pretend like this is a teacher asking a question about a presentation. "There are seven of us, including me. Uh, your honor." He added belatedly, watching the judge closely.

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen, sir. I graduated in May."

The judge nodded. "How old is your youngest brother?" He questioned, pushing his glasses up his face.

"Six. He's going to be in first grade when school starts." Cody kicked himself for not adding another your honor or something like that in his sentence.

"Do you have the financial resources to care for all seven of you."

"I believe so, your honor. I work full time and my dad left behind some money for me."

"College money?" The judge raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Cody looked the judge in the eye.

"Do you plan to go to college?" Cody's breath caught.

"Not at the moment, sir. My brothers are more important to me."

"What would you be going into?"

"Law." A small smile crossed the judge's face.

"Really? Did you have any colleges picked out?"

"I got an acceptance letter from Harvard."

A shocked look crossed the judge's face, he quickly schooled it into a curious look.

"So, you turned down Harvard for your brothers?"

"Yes. My brothers are more important than having a fancy college attached to my name, your honor." Cody said earnestly.

The judge nodded and looked over Cody.

"You'll make a great lawyer someday, Cody Fett, your brothers are now in your custody."

The few in the room began clapping. Cody grinned. "Thank you, sir." He said respectfully before turning to Plo and Rex, who were both watching him proudly. Rex grabbed him into a hug.

"You did amazing, Cody." Rex said quietly.

"Good job, Cody. He's right, you'll make a fine lawyer." Plo put a hand on Cody's shoulder, he escorted them out of the room.

This didn't feel real. They walked outside and looked around for the other kids, who were waiting with Wolffe and Jesse. Fives caught sight of them and tugged on Wolffe's sleeve.

"There they are! Come on, Wolffe!" The group ran the short distance to them. A few glared at them but most just smiled and watched them.

"Well?" Jesse looked at them expectantly. Cody nodded and cleared his throat.

"I got custody of you guys." He choked out, it felt unreal. The tears finally fell after all this time.

They were a pile of hugs and cheers. Tup hugged Cody's neck.

"Why are you crying? Everyone is happy." Tup worried. Cody smiled and shook his head.

"I am happy, these are happy tears." He promised. Tup grinned and giggled.

"Okay. He hopped out of Cody's arms and went to Plo.

"Can we go get ice cream?" He whispered in the older man's ear. Plo laughed.

"Of course, little one." Plo replied.

\--

Cody tucked Fives in. "Goodnight Fives." He said, Fives smiled as he cuddled under the blanket. He opened his mouth and yawned loudly, causing Cody to chuckle.

"'Night Cody." He mumbled. "You're my favorite brother."

Cody smiled and shook his head. "You're crazy." He said, Fives shrugged and rolled over.

Cody sat for a few minutes in silence, when Fives began snoring softly, Cody got up and headed to the living room. Rex was sitting on the floor with his phone.

"They're asleep, or at least in bed." Cody said, sitting across from Rex. His brother smiled.

"I'm proud of you. Dad would be proud of you too." Cody smiled gratefully.

"Thanks Rex, you're the best brother ever."

"Aww, are you saying I'm your favorite?"

"No, I didn't-"

"Yes you did, you said I was the best." Rex argued. Cody rolled his eyes and kicked Rex hard enough that he huffed.

"Idiot." Cody grumbled.

"Yeah, but at least I'm the favorite."

**Author's Note:**

> I love the idea of Echo doing ballet but I don't know where the idea came from.
> 
> Also, Fives comes off kinda mean but it's more of a grieving thing that little kids do, they become super confident and bully others.


End file.
